Method of repairing a valve



Aug. 4, 1964 'r. M. MERRICK METHOD OF REPAIRING A VALVE Filed May 31,1963 FIG-2 FIG-3 TONY M. MERRICK INVENTOR.

FIG-l min-h United States Patent 3,142,900 METHOD OF REPAIRING A VALVETony M. Merrick, 4304 N. Adams, Spokane 18, Wash. Filed May 31, 1963,Ser. No. 284,690 1 Claim. (Cl. 29-401) My present invention is a methodof repairing a valve of the character having a valve body and aremovable sleeve mating in a ground joint.

Although there are many types of valves available on the market today,one type which is quite prevalent, includes a valve body having anannular ground face mating with an annular ground face of a removablesleeve releasably held therein. Primarily, these valves are employed indomestic water systems and are conventionally termed tub filler valves,shower and diverter valves, kitchen deck faucets, etc. When these valvesare new, the sleeve and valve body are sealed by said ground joint, butafter years of use, due to various operational causes, as for example,expansions and contractions effected by temperature changes, leakageoccurs between the joint faces and causes erosion to either or bothfaces, that is, to the ground face of the valve body and/or the groundface of the sleeve. When the erosion takes place in the ground face ofthe sleeve, it is only necessary to purchase a new sleeve and insert itinto the valve body and the leakage is corrected. However, when theerosion takes place in the ground face of the valve body, it isconsiderably more diflicult to correct.

Efforts have been made in the past to correct the latter problem byemploying a grinding compound between the mating faces and byoscillatory rotations of the sleeve, grind out the damaged area and thusform new seating faces. The time consumed and therefore the expenseinvolved in practicing such a method is normally prohibitive.

In cases where the valve is one that is installed in a wall such as in abathroom tub and shower installation where the valves are installed andtile applied thereover, the time required to remove the wall covering,replace the valve and then replace the wall covering and retile, mayexceed the time of re-seating by using the grinding compound.

In other examples, as when the valve is a kitchen deck faucet which maybe easily exchanged, it is economically not feasible to regrind themating faces since the purchase of a new valve body is normally lessthan the labor time consumed in grinding as hereinabove described. But,even in this situation, the cost of a valve body is relatively high andthus the necessity for purchasing a substitute valve is distasteful.

Efforts have been made to repair the leaking condition by applyingplastic tape or a continuous lead washer between the mating faces of thevalve body and the sleeve, but these have not proven to be satisfactorybecause the sleeve is not then permitted to properly seat with the faceof the valve body face and in very short time the faucet is found to beleaking again and further damage to the valve body face is noted.

The present invention provides a relatively convenient and economicalmethod of stopping leakage between the damaged ground face of a valvebody and valve sleeve in a valve of the character described.

Another object of the present invention lies in the provision of animproved valve sleeve which will stop leakage between a damaged valvebody face and a valve sleeve.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention willbecome apparent during the course of the following description whenconsidered in conjunction with the exemplifying drawings wherein likenumerals are employed to designate similar parts; and

FIGURE 1 is an enlarged view of a conventional sleeve and the matingparts of a valve body in section;

FIG. 2 is an elevation of the sleeve with the O ring recess being formedtherein;

FIG. 3 is an elevation of the sleeve with the O ring applied; and a FIG.4 is a sectional view through a wall and a valve of the characterinvolved showing the repaired assembly.

In the drawing, the numeral 1 indicates the valve body which is adaptedto receive the valve sleeve 2 and seal therewith at a ground joint 3, bymeans of mating faces. The sleeve 2 is provided with a mating face 4 andthe valve body 1 is provided with a mating face 5. These ground facesprovide a ground joint seal between the sleeve 2 and valve body 1.

As is conventional, the sleeve 2 is provided with an annular valve seat6 with which seat washer 6a cooperates to provide the conventionalvalving action effected by rotation of the valve stem 10 and theresultant axial movement of the seat washer 6a to and away from thevalve seat 6 by means of the cooperating internal threads 9 of thesleeve 2 and the internal threads 11 of the valve stem.

conventionally, water is admitted into the area 1a of the valve andpasses through inlet apertures 8 of the sleeve 9, thence between theseat washer 6a and seat 6 when the valve is opened through the opening 7and is discharged through the pipe or coupling 19.

To insure that a seal will exist between the faces 4 and 5, the valve isprovided with an anchor sleeve 12 which is threaded into the valve body1 to exert axial force upon the sleeve 9. The anchor sleeve 12 isprovided with an integral cap 13 which forms a gland 13a of a stuffingbox 14 thus sealing between the cap 13 and the valve body 1.

An escutcheon nipple 15 has an end portion 16 constituting a gland andis threaded into the cap confining the stern packing 17 to preventleakage about the stem 10.

The escutcheon 18 is threaded to the end of the escutcheon nipple 15 asshown.

conventionally, tub fillers and shower and diverter valves are mountedwithin a wall which is indicated in its entirety by the numeral 20. Thewall 20 has an inside wall board 21 faced with a vitreous or plastictile 22, all of which is supported on conventional studs as 23. The line24 indicates the inner face of the opposed wall covering.

Referring now to FIGURES 2 and 3 particularly, it will be seen thatafter I remove the sleeve 2 from the valve body 1 in conventionalmanner, I form in the annular face 4 of the sleeve 2, a coextensiveannular recess 25. This may be conveniently accomplished by chucking thesleeve 2 in a lathe, rotating the sleeve as shown by arrow 31, and bymeans of a lathe tool 26 cut the recess 25 therein. After removal fromthe lathe, I apply a selected 0 ring 27 which, it will be seen, has aportion extending from the recess beyond the face 4 of the sleeve 2.

The amount the 0 ring extends beyond the face is variable due to severalvariable conditions. For example, the more compressible the materialfrom which the 0 ring 27 is made, the greater the extension which willbe accommodated. This is necessitated by reason of the fact that it isdesirable, for optimum length of operation, that the face 4 shall beseated with the face 5 even when the O ring 27 is disposed therebetween.This results in the greatest ability to Withstand the changingconditions, for example, Water pressure and temperature changes.

It will be noted that the recess is provided at its upper margin orlimit with an annular flat face 28 which is normal to the axis of thesleeve 2. At its lower limit there is a radially disposed lip 29 whichacts as a retainer for the O ring 27 and its bottom wall 30 is arcuateto conform to the configuration of the O ring 27.

In this disclosure, the end of the sleeve 2 having the ground face 4 isconsidered to be the bottom of the sleeve and it is inserted into thevalve body 1 bottom first and moved axially therein until the ring 27impinges against the ground face of the valve body 1 whereupon theanchor sleeve 12 is inserted into the valve body 1 and by means of aWrench is threadedly advanced to apply sufficient force to the sleeve tomove the face 4 into engagement with the face 5 thus compressing the Oring 27 so that it is deformed into the damaged or eroded area 5a of thevalve body face 5. It therefore becomes obvious that the face 28 beingnormal to the axial movement of the sleeve will exert the axial force,exerted by the anchor sleeve, parallel to the axis of the sleeve 2against the O ring 27 and prevent seizing or pinching of the O ringbetween the face 4 and the face 5.

By this means of repair, it becomes unnecessary then, to remove thewall, face and covering 21 and 22 to exchange the valve but it is onlynecessary to remove the sleeve 9 from the valve body 1 by first removingthe escutcheon 18 and anchor sleeve 12 and thence forming an annularrecess in the face 4 intermediate its axially spaced margins 4a and 4bapplying an O ring having a cross sectional body diameter adapted to bereceived in the recess with a sufiicient amount disposed beyond the face4 to extend into and plug the erosion damage 5a of the valve body face 5and then reinstall the sleeve into the valve body under suflicient forceto bring the faces 4 and 5 into engagement and thereby deform the O ringinto the erosion damage 511. This force is available by the 4 threadedinteraction of the anchor sleeve 12 and the valve body 1.

Having thus described my invention, I desire to secure by Letters Patentof the United States the following:

The herein described method of stopping leakage in a valve of thecharacter described having a valve body and a removable valve sleeveeach with an annular ground face coacting with the other to form aground joint wherein the valve body face is damaged by erosion beyondsealing with the valve sleeve face, which consists in:

removing the sleeve from the valve body; forming an annularlycoextensive recess in the face of said sleeve intermedaite its axiallyspaced margins; applying to said recess an O ring of a cross-sectionalbody diameter to be received in said recess with a sufficient amountdisposed beyond the face of said sleeve to extend into and plug saiddamage of said valve body face; and reinstalling said sleeve in saidvalve body under sufficient force to bring the said faces intoengagement and deform said O ring into said damage to seal between saidfaces.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

